The RCB seamer bowled a stifling spell in his side’s thumping win over KKR
Josh Hazlewood’s stifling spell that suppressed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) set the tone for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their IPL 2025 season opener. He hit in the first and last overs, spearheading RCB’s pace attack, and finished with figures of 2 for 22.
In addition to taking out Quinton de Kock and Harshit Rana, Hazlewood’s accuracy was crucial. He was the most impressive fast bowler on Saturday, bowling 16 dot balls while keeping his economy at 5.50. Disciplined lengths were the key to his success: only three full deliveries, eight short balls, ten short-of-good-length, and three good-length balls.
Following the game, Hazlewood stated that the weather—the field being covered for almost two days—as well as his own prowess on such surfaces had a role in his choice to remain on the shorter side. KKR was held to 9 for 1 in the first three overs thanks to his strategy.
“It was more based on pitch and conditions,” Hazlewood said in the post-match press conference in Kolkata. “The full ball probably wasn’t gonna do as much unless you were searching for swing. I found that it was sort of sticking in the wicket a little and the bounce was quite good. I like bowling here at Eden Gardens. And yeah, we just sort of stuck to our lengths.”
Even with Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine’s spectacular displays at the top, KKR only scored a disappointing 174. Hazlewood emphasized that the bowlers’ continuous communication was essential to quickly dismissing the middle order. He attributed KKR’s stuttering finish, in which they managed just 23 runs in the last four overs, to Suyash Sharma’s dismissal of Andre Russell and Krunal Pandya’s three-wicket burst.
“We would have had to bowl a little bit differently at the end if we didn’t take those wickets through the middle,” Hazlewood stated. “Krunal, however, bowled exquisitely through the middle. I believe the hard lengths work best here most of the time, but I was fortunate enough to bowl to sort of the tail near the end.
Someone who has played a lot of cricket at those grounds is usually present in our bowlers’ meetings. In certain situations, [they] take the stage and discuss their experiences there as well as what suits them. As a result, there is a lot of conversation between the bowling group and the coaches, along with particular ground layout.”
With INR 12.50 crore (about USD 1.49 million), Hazlewood, who played for RCB in 2022 and 2023 before missing the 2024 season, made a comeback this year as their most costly auction pick. According to him, the majority of the team’s players had no baggage from previous matches against KKR. With six new players in the starting lineup, RCB never focused on the fact that they had lost four straight games against KKR going into the contest. Hazlewood also gave credit for the easy victory to Virat Kohli and Phil Salt’s strong opening partnership of 95 runs.
“The IPL is in a new cycle, but those new players—Salt among them—performed brilliantly. The opening partnership really put us up for success tonight. It was important to get us off to that start because, while it wasn’t a high score, it was still a respectable total.
He added that even though he is recovering from a calf injury, bowling four T20 overs does not put a lot of load on his body. As the season goes on, he anticipates getting stronger.
